Stay engaged with the MHS this year! |
|
“Those Pages in the Annals of America, will record your Title to a conspicuous Place in the Temple of Fame, which shall inform Posterity, that under your Directions, an undisciplined Band of Husbandmen, in the Course of a few Months, became Soldiers; and that the Desolation meditated against the Country, by a brave Army of Veterans, commanded by the most experienced Generals, but employ'd by bad Men in the worst of Causes, was, by the Fortitude of your Troops, and the Address of their Officers, next to the kind Interposition of Providence, confined for near a Year, within such narrow Limits, as scarcely to admit more Room than was necessary for the Encampments and Fortifications, they lately abandoned.
Accept therefore, Sir, the Thanks of the United Colonies, unanimously declared by their Delegates, to be due to you, and the brave Officers and Troops under your Command: and be pleased to communicate to them, this distinguished Mark of the Approbation of their Country.”
|
|
Ralph Farnham
Although Veterans Day was first celebrated for all veterans in 1947, Revolutionary War veterans were heralded as heroes in Boston in the 19th century. One such veteran of the Revolutionary War was Ralph Farnham, a farmer who lived in Maine.
In 1860, for his 104th birthday, the town of Acton, Maine, celebrated their humble hometown hero, Ralph Farnham with dinner, speeches, and a 104-gun salute. When news spread of this celebration to Boston, the Massachusetts governor, mayor of Boston, and several prominent Bostonians invited Farnham to Boston to be celebrated in the cradle of liberty. Farnham accepted the invitation and journeyed there in October 1860. A concert was performed in his honor and he was given a room at the Revere House, an elegant hotel. The prince of Wales, Albert Edward, happened to be touring Boston at the same time and they met briefly.
This image of Farnham, created in 1858 when he was 102, was a style of photography called ambrotype. Ambrotypes were made much like daguerreotypes in that they were made on glass plates; however, where daguerreotypes were negatives and positives in one, depending on how you looked at them, ambrotypes were backed with dark colors to reflect light, thus appearing as positive images. This means that like daguerreotypes, this image is one-of-a-kind and can only be reproduced by taking a photograph of it, as you see here. Ambrotypes rose to popularity in the 1850s, but were replaced by tintypes in the 1860s.
|
|
MHS’s online programs are held on the video conference platform Zoom. Registrants will receive an e-mail with a link to join the program.
|
|
Introducing The Object of History
MHS’s new podcast, The Object of History, highlights our extraordinary collections that tell the story of America through millions of rare and unique documents, artifacts, and irreplaceable national treasures. Each episode of the podcast takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of that vast collection. MHS staff experts and historians introduce you to fragile documents, unusual artifacts, and intriguing artworks that make the past come alive. This conversation is an introduction to the podcast with the producers and staff experts sharing highlights and talking about what was left on the cutting room floor.
|
|
Literary Distinction in Historical Writing 2021: An Evening with the Society of American Historians Prize Winners
On Thursday, 18 November, at 6:00 PM, Afia Atakora, Novelist; Brianna Nofil, College of William & Mary; and Christopher Tomlins, Berkeley Law, present Literary Distinction in Historical Writing 2021: An Evening with the Society of American Historians Prize Winners, moderated by Megan Marshall, Emerson College, SAH past president.
Since its founding in 1939, the Society of American Historians has worked “to promote literary distinction in the writing of history” by conferring membership and honoring outstanding works. The 64th annual Francis Parkman Prize, awarded to Christopher Tomlins for In the Matter of Nat Turner: A Speculative History, recognizes “literary merit” in a nonfiction book that “makes an important contribution to the history of what is now the United States.” Afia Atakora’s novel, Conjure Woman, is the fifteenth winner of the SAH’s biennial Prize for Historical Fiction, which recognizes narrative skill and authentic portrayal of the past. Brianna Nofil’s “Detention Power: Jails, Camps, and the Origins of Immigrant Incarceration, 1900–2002” received the 61st Allan Nevins Prize for a doctoral dissertation. Megan Marshall, herself a Parkman Prize winner, will interview the authors on their work and aims as historical writers.
|
|
On Tuesday, 7 December, at 5:15 PM, Sarah Beth Gable, Brandeis University, with comment by Donald Johnson, North Dakota State University, presents Crisis: 1774–1775, a Pauline Maier Early American History Seminar.
On Thursday, 9 December, at 5:15 PM, Sally Hadden, University of Western Michigan, with comment by Jessica Otis, George Mason University, and Susanna Blumenthal, University of Minnesota, presents Digitizing Early Massachusetts Court Records, a Digital History Seminar.
On Tuesday, 14 December, at 5:15 PM, Hannah Smith, University of Minnesota, with comment by Nora Doyle, Salem College, presents “The Kind of Death, Natural or Violent”: Fetal Death and the Male Midwife in Nineteenth-Century Boston, a History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar.
|
|
Interested in Viewing Past Programs? |
If you missed a program or would like to revisit the material presented, please visit www.masshist.org/video or our YouTube channel. A selection of past programs is just a click away.
|
|
Receive benefits including invitations to enhanced Member-only events; free or discounted admission to special programs; and access to publications such as our calendar of events, newsletter, and Annual Report.
|
|
Help us improve your experience with the MHS.
Adjust your e-mail preferences by updating your profile below,
and we will adjust our e-mails to you accordingly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
